In Passing
by crookedcath
Summary: Sometimes we meet our soul mates in passing... Nejiten one shot


**A/n:** My anger at Kishimoto's decision to abandon Neji has subsided and with that, my return to the fandom…. Also it's my one week of summer so what else would I be doing?

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 **In Passing**

By crookedcath

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 _Out of 8 billion people in the world, how could you believe your soul mate lives 15 minutes away from you?_

 **3:15pm**

The train veered slightly to the left as she watched people ricochet off their feet, desperately grabbing at the various rings hanging down from the ceiling to stabilize themselves. She stifled a laugh as a particularly cross business man attempted to smooth out his shirt, clearing his throat, after unceremoniously knocking the back of his head against the window. _There's no cool way to recover from that,_ she thought as she bit her lip to stifle another giggle. Casting her eyes downward, her gaze fell on her tanned hand gripping the pole for balance…and a larger pale hand gripping the space directly beneath it.

She was suddenly very aware of a large, male presence directly behind her.

When she first noticed him staring at her from a little farther down the train platform, she had dismissed him quickly. His long dark hair and soft white eyes had made him seem slight, feminine, and a bit too young for her taste. The confident way he continued to watch her despite her making it apparent she had seen him annoyed her… or maybe it was the rain, the possibility of missing her flight, the loss of her cell phone.

Now, staring at his hand gripping the pole directly beneath hers, she realized she was wrong. His hand was significantly larger than hers and the tight grip he held spoke in direct opposition to her first impression of his physical form. From her peripheral she was surprised to find that she barely made it past his shoulders.

She had a sudden desire to slip her hand down just a couple centimeters to feel the warmth of his hand. Would his rigid hand feel smooth or calloused?

Behind her, white eyes watched.

 **3:00pm**

The first thing he noticed, in a line of _many_ things, was how supremely pissed off she looked. He had been standing on the train platform responding to emails on his phone when he heard the loud thud of a duffel bag being tossed to the ground. That's when he made the mistake of looking up and found himself unable to look anywhere else.

Her eyes were huge- the color of dark chocolate- and set in a round face that at first would've annoyed the hell out of him. Her wavy brown hair and general puppy dog appearance projected a sense of naivety and foolishness that he naturally associated with his cousin and so, naturally, disgusted him.

Not that he had anything against Hyuuga Hinata. It was just that her air of innocence and defenselessness aggravated him for reasons he himself could not explain. Rock Lee's voice yelling "the youthful virtue of patience was not bestowed on you, Neji" echoed in his head, but he chose to ignore it. It was beneath him to take personality advice from someone who willingly used a bowl to shape his hair cuts. Let Uzumaki Naruto deal with constant protection and encouragement- he would have none of it.

She kicked her duffel between her legs and glared around as if challenging someone to mug her. Some unreasonable and completely irrational part of him almost wished someone would- watching this girl kick someone's ass would be highly entertaining. She raked her hands through her messy brown hair, wet with rain water, and looked so profusely pissed off that he couldn't help but to find himself, for lack of a less embarrassing word, captivated.

When she turned to glare at him, lips slightly puckered and the forehead above her large eyes crumpling, he kept staring.

And when he placed himself directly behind her on the train and listened to her quiet laugh as an older male almost knocked himself out on the train wall, he was half in love.

What would Lee say to _that_?

 **3:17pm**

As soon as a seat opened up near the back of the train, she rushed forward to take it. She was careful not to brush her hand against the growing pale temptation under it, fulfilling a desperate need to put as much distance between herself and the long haired boy behind her. There was something about him that seemed to get more and more attractive the longer she undressed him through her peripheral vision.

When he sat at a sideways facing seat a few rows in front of her, she thanked the heavens for the glorious profile that came into view. His jaw line was sharp and she watched carefully as the swaying train caused his silky hair to sashay back and forth over a crisp white dress shirt. She was almost angry at herself for believing him to be petite as her eyes roamed over the shirt and took into account the definition of his arm muscles.

Her hands practically burned to grab her sketchbook and attempt to recreate the perfection in front of her. She frowned slightly. No… he was too perfect to draw: the creamy skin, thin lips, sculptured face structure, and jesus _the hair_. The hair itself would take hours.

She pushed away the desire to run her hand through the soft strands.

She sighed dejectedly. She had flown halfway across the country to check out an art school her friend insisted she try out, yet she found herself stumped by a boy on a train.

She wanted to scoff as her eyes took in every part of him. Did he do regular things like the mortals around him? Did he eat? Sleep? Or did he just sit on trains and allow the world to gaze at his beauty? Not that she was complaining.

Suddenly, he shifted. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a phone- he even did _that_ gracefully, what was with this guy?- and glanced at the screen. In a deep baritone that made her want to clutch her heart, he said, "Lee, I already told you I don't give a shit about the springtime of- I could give a damn if Sakura said – I'm on the subway I need to go. Bye."

His eyebrows knit together and his lips pressed into a thin line.

"Tell Naruto I said fuck off."

The phone slid gracefully back into his pocket and she gaped. The beautiful serene face had gone from passivity to irritation to uncaring in the matter of thirty seconds. His eyebrows had drawn together as he glared out the window, holding the phone away from his ear as a loud voice shouted into it. It- he- was perfect.

Now _that_ she could draw.

She almost couldn't help the huge grin that spread over her face as she absorbed this new aspect of the gorgeous boy in front of her. Every stop of the train seemed to unveil new details of him and she was exhilarated. Why did his dry "fuck off" make her feel so satisfied? Did it speak toward unflattering and possibly demented aspects of her character?

…Nah.

Some part of her was sad that she was stops away from never seeing him again. She imagined the possibilities. Could she impress him enough in a two-stop conversation so they would keep in touch despite her home thousands of miles away? Was it possible that he was headed to the same airport and some twist of fate would find them seated side by side- strangers compelled to start conversation to quicken a four hour flight? She searched for any signs of luggage surrounding him but found none.

What could she possibly do or say to make him more than a handsome boy she saw on a train while on a week-long trip to Chicago?

Soft lavender eyes looked up and found hers.

 **3:19pm**

When he first became aware of her eyes on him, he was pleased. It would've been extremely discouraging if this girl he had half a mind to propose to had shown no interest in him. So, he stayed completely still with a mask of utmost complacency fixed on his face. He wanted to smirk as her eyes lingered on his face and the weight of her stare continually lowered itself.

But then he realized she looked displeased with what she saw- angry even. Was he that physically repulsive that her eyes had narrowed and then rolled? Was he comical in some way?

Maybe it was the hair. He briefly considered cutting it.

Stubbornly he continued to stay very still, hoping she would continue to stare and overlook whatever physical atrocity repulsed her enough to laugh. He was committed to his mission of unerring stillness but then his phone had vibrated and Lee's stupidity could be ignored no longer.

"NEJI MY FRIEND! SAKURA-SAN'S PLAY WAS THE EMBODIMENT OF THE SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH-"

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes and moved the receiver farther away from his ears lest he become permanently deaf.

"Lee, I already told you I don't give a shit about the springtime of-"

"BUT NEJI, SAKURA SAID THERE WERE PLENTY OF BEAUTIFUL BACHELORETTES-"

Maybe going deaf wouldn't be such a bad thing.

"I don't give a damn what Sakura said," he wanted to pull his hair out as Lee continued to reiterate everything Sakura had said or even implied since the day she left her mother's womb. Although, he could sort of understand Lee's infatuation now that he was officially creepy in regard to the amber eyed girl a few rows away. "I'm on the subway I need to go. Bye."

Just as he was about to hang up he caught a loud voice in the back yelling, "This is why Neji will never get laid!"

He considered not taking the bait but failed to resist the need for foul language. He glared out the window as he mentally pictured stabbing a pole through his soon to be cousin in-law's eyes.

"Tell Naruto I said fuck off."

And suddenly, the girl was smiling at him like the sun shone out of his ass and he found himself thanking Naruto's mother for dropping him on his head as a baby. He found a renewed hope and locked gazes with her. She seemed startled but then her eyes turned warm and something in him believed that she was just as mystified by him as he was with her.

He resolved to talk to her.

 **3:22pm**

She was embarrassed by how quickly her heart was beating. He was staring at her so intently that she felt almost positive he was going to come to her. Insecurity hit her, but she pushed it aside at the focus of his eyes and the weird feeling that he somehow found her beautiful.

She didn't believe in love at first sight, but she felt positive if it existed it was here on this train and only footsteps away from fruition.

And then she remembered the boarding pass clutched tightly in her hand and the realization that in a few hours she would be miles away from him took hold.

She looked away.

 **3:22pm**

He was positive that the instantaneous connection he felt with this girl upon her arrival on the train platform was not in his imagination. Hyuuga Neji barely acknowledged passing warmth when confronted with his only blood relatives, if not just a small lingering attachment. But with this girl, he felt as if his entire body was on fire.

And he was sure she believed so too because her mouth had opened slightly, her cheeks had flushed, and he was _so sure_.

But then she had glanced at a white piece of paper in her hand, bit her lip, and looked away.

 **3:30pm**

"Now arriving at Irving Park," the train intercom announced.

When Hyuuga Neji stepped out onto the train platform, sparing one last glance at the amber eyed girl, he felt an unexplainable sense of loss and disappointment.

Maybe he would go to the play after all.

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 _Equal parts chance and equal parts timing- Sometimes, we meet our soul mates in passing._

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 **A/n:** If you are familiar with my writing you'll know I have this unfailing belief in the idea of soul mates. You also know that I tend to express this belief through Neji and Tenten because let's face it- they're awesome. But this time I wanted to write about the idea of never meeting, or never knowing, your soul mate. That being said, I totally could turn this into a story. But, unfortunately, I feel like I'd be setting myself up for disappointment because during the school year life gets so hectic.

Please share your thoughts with me. Sorry to anyone who read this expecting a lot of romance and a more action driven plot.

Thanks to anyone who is still author alerted to me after all this time.


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